Thursday, April 24, 2008

IPL Cheerleaders

What's wrong about cheerleaders ? Afterall IPL is 100% commercial , with actors and actresses as team ambassadors. Why not have the cheerleaders and make it even more glamorous ?

Why are these politicians and narrow minded public barking here, when Bollywood, Kollywood, Tollywood and other woods in India come out with movies with a lot of flesh ? Even worse, most of them even get a clean rating by the authorities.

I recently watched two movies in Tamil. BILLA and SIVAJI. The heroines in these movies wore skimpy outfits and exposed flesh to the maximum ! Those of you who saw those movies would know what I am talking about.

What was the rating of those two movies? Did any politician open his / her mouth about it? Did anyone write about it ?

I think exposure in movies and exposure by cheerleaders can't be compared.

What would have been hypocrisy is, if the guys who had allowed exposure on stage dramas (where the audience is actually allowed to see flesh in flesh) and not allowed the cheerleaders.

There is a difference when the exposure is done on a screen and when it is done in person. There is a certain amount of 'detachment' involved in the former.

One of the news articles reported that some cheerleaders were feeling threatened by the lewd comments and lascivious looks of the audience (which would obviously be there for the state of their attire, given the Indian social context of repressed sexuality among males). Do you get complaints like that from actresses exposing on the screen? 99% of the time it is not the case, because even these actresses perform little exposure when exposed to a large section of the public live. (Shriya's attire at a public function in front of lots of people did attract censure, and is a case in point)

IMHO, Indian society is not yet ready for cheerleaders. Public decency and conservatism in attire for females is necessary in the present days. Once Indian society becomes westernised and teenagers lose their virginity right in high school itself, they would no longer feel the need to pass lewd comments and give amorous looks to skimpily clad cheerleaders. Of course, it is a moot point as to whether Indians should pick up the decadent moral aspects of American society and not its good points.

I completely agree with Ganesh's comments. We dont need these cheer leaders with whatever be their dress sense be, to promote cricket. Gooss, I cant believe the gentleman's game is no longer the same!!!!

Sumi - What's wrong? Everything can be copied from the West...welcome..but not this? Why this double stand?

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Ganesh - I disagree - India today apes the West in everything !, Someone came up with the idea of IPL for making money ! wanted to copy ( I feel ) NBA/NFL and other sport events in the world...!! They imported the Cheerleaders also.

You said - INdia is not ready..for all this! Tell me - when do you think it will be ready?

The question is not whether India is aping the West in everything or not. It is actually whether India should ape or should try to maintain its own identity.

When coming into contact / 'adopting' any new culture, it is always best to take in the good aspects and leave the bad aspects out. I am sure even American parents with teenage sons and daughters don't want them to indulge in underage drinking / drugs / high school sex (even though they might have indulged in it themselves at a previous point in time). Even they realize that any activity leading to loss of moral probity should be frowned upon, but they are rendered powerless. IMHO, Indians should try to 'save' themselves when they can, and not feel like the present age American parents at a later point in time when they can't get out of the rut.

Making money / providing entertainment by organizing sports events / franchises, as far as I know, doesn't really violate any moral standards already existing in Indian culture. Skimpily clad cheerleaders? Well, suffice to say that Indian culture specifies that, as much as possible, such things must be savoured in the privacy and sanctity of an emotional relationship, and not be put on a shop window for all to see.

It is not a matter of whether India is ready or not, or when it will be ready. It is a matter of whether India should be receptive to such concepts at all, and then regret later for allowing such things to happen. Of course, a single person like me thinking about this will have no effect on what the whole of India does. When stuck by a mass wave of things which appear 'nice and enticing', there will be very few people with resistive powers to bear the onslaught.

On a side note, isn't it strange that the skimpily clad cheerleaders are utilized by the Bangalore team headed by a liquor baron? Other teams have cheerleaders who are much better dressed. It is time to think about the old Tamil saying involving 'madhu and maadhu'.

NV sir, I beg to differ. I think what is shown is movies and on the field is not the same. Did you see the kind of outfit the cheerleaders wore? I think that kind of dress is still quite outrageous in India. And here people (which includes kids) come to watch a match and so such lewd scenes might seem a bit inconvenient whereas in movies since they almost know what they can expect, they can choose to watch it or avoid it. I definitely feel such kind of cheerleaders is unnecessary or as Ganesh put it, India is still not ready for it (need not be ready too - whats the big deal anyway if its ready?).